


subtle devotion

by Unicat121



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, If You Squint - Freeform, Loss, Non binary Reader, POV Outsider, Telepathy, Thought Projection, and stuff, barely, but ANGST, i think, idk what to tag this it wouldn't leave me alone so here have a brainchild, strange is just wondering why his parents are so distant, very angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 05:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30000138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unicat121/pseuds/Unicat121
Summary: "I've hurt you, so very much.""You have, but we have hurt each other."| | | | |Strange's thoughts as he watches and learns from two of the most powerful sorcerers to ever live.
Relationships: Ancient One & Stephen Strange, Steven Strange & Reader, The Ancient One/Reader
Kudos: 2





	subtle devotion

**Author's Note:**

> This is a brainchild that wouldn't leave me alone, and I also love the idea of The Ancient One having an Irish name?  
> So yeah, Niamh is pronounced like n-ee-v in case you didn't want to bother looking it up.

No one knew where the Ancient One had come from. No one knew her name. Mordo had told Strange that she was Celtic and while no one knew how she was one of two to have survived millennia without ageing.

The other was called The Archer. It wasn’t their name, but they never spoke so no one had any way of knowing what it was. At least, that’s what Mordo had said. The Archer never took off their hood, so if they were even human, no one knew their gender either. It would be difficult to tell by looking, their robe was heavy and fell far from the body it covered.

“So, the Archer and the Ancient One, they created the Sanctums,” he had asked one day. Mordo had laughed at him. Laughed at him.

“That is another question. One to which the answer is also unknown. All that we do know is that they have always been together, and are rarely seen apart.” Strange glanced over to where the two were watching others practice fighting in the courtyard.

“What, like,  _ together _ , together?”

It was minute, and if Strange was someone who didn’t have some of the best observational skills in the world, he wouldn’t have noticed. The Archer shifted towards them slightly.

Mordo gave him a look. He shook his head.

“The Ancient One and The Archer are not like  _ that _ . They are the same, yet different. They are subtle, and anyone can see they are devoted to the Sanctums and each other.”

Strange tried to work that out. “What, so they’re married or something?” He didn’t get an answer. He  _ did _ , however, almost get an ancient relic to the face.

“No more questions! Fight! Fight like your life depends upon it!”

“Starting to think it does,” Strange muttered, conjuring a whip to protect his face.

| | | | |

After his little discussion with Mordo, Strange started noticing it a lot more. The Ancient One was never far away from The Archer, and vice versa. It wasn’t easy to spot, but there was a pattern.

If The Ancient One was Teaching in the courtyard, so was The Archer. At meals - the Archer never ate, but they were always present - The Archer would often lay a single hand on The Ancient One’s shoulder and leave it there while they read a book. No one else seemed bothered, so Strange let it be - for a while.

But he noticed more. If The Archer even had a face, it was always watching when The Ancient one was anywhere but the Sanctum, and if one was missing Strange quickly realised both of them showed up together again.

They were each other’s shadow.

One day, he asked.

“So, who is The Archer?” The Ancient One had looked at him, studied him for a long moment, before she answered.

“They are mine like I am theirs. That is all I have to say on the matter,” she continued, noticing Strange ready to ask again. He nodded, walking away. The Archer rounded the corner at the same time he did, and Strange barely caught sight of a blindfold before he stumbled and needed catching before he fell three flights of stairs.

“ _ Careful, Strange. We won’t always be here to catch you. _ ”

_ What _ ? Strange would have asked, but the Archer was already walking into The Ancient One’s room and closing the door behind them. There was muffled talking, but eventually, it faded away and Strange was left with no option but to pick up his books and walk away.

| | | | |

Strange was... left reeling from the fact that it was The Archer’s voice he just heard but  _ inside his head _ . He didn’t know it was possible to broadcast thoughts like that. When he went to the library and asked Wong, Strange only received a blank look and a brief explanation.

“The tomes which teach telepathy were lost millennia ago. There are none within the Sanctum.” Strange didn’t tell Wong that The Archer knew how to do it. Instead, he researched, looked for mentions of telepathy in the old tomes which involved astral projection, or mind wards. He didn’t find anything, but he didn’t stop looking.

Eventually, The Archer took notice, watching him with a book open on his lap during one of the communal meals. The hand on The Ancient One’s shoulder tightened, and the teacher turned her head in response. She then shifted her attention to Strange. Nodding, The Ancient One returned to her meal, while The Archer kept their gaze focused on Strange.

“ _ You wish to learn thought projection. _ ” The Archer was communicating with him again, so Strange maintained what he thought was eye contact and nodded minutely.

“ _ Come. _ ”

The Archer stood, turning away and snapping their book shut. While they were leaving, Strange noticed The Ancient One tense up a considerable amount. She hid it well, but the marks on her face hardened and her shoulders were a hard line across her back.

“ _ Strange, _ ” The Archer - was called the right word? Their ‘voice’ seemed to be resonating inside his head - called out, turning a corner at a brisk pace. Following, the former surgeon turned as well, only for The Archer to do what The Ancient One did when he first arrived.

Watching his physical body fall to the floor, Strange turned to the Archer in anger. He was met with a masked, blindfolded and hooded astral form of the second teacher, but without the heavy cloak on their shoulders.

“ _ Come, _ ” The Archer said again, floating through the air and several walls. Strange followed, only to find himself in the mirror dimension.

He’d never been there as an astral projection, and he felt... strangely light. He tried performing a spell, but he couldn’t seem to make the magic bend to what he wanted. He felt slightly embarrassed that The Archer had watched him completely lose control of a basic Eldritch Whip.

“ _ This is not a place where an astral form can cast, Strange. This is where you come to train the mind. To guard your thoughts and, at times, even project them _ .”

Strange did his best not to openly gape. The Archer was going to teach him telepathy.

“ _ Not telepathy, Strange. Thought projection _ .”

| | | | |

Strange was practically  _ giddy _ .

Sure, The Archer was a difficult teacher to please, but he’d had his fair share of those during med-school, and he knew how to be a good student. Besides, the thought projection was hard, and he  _ still _ messed up the target of his thoughts sometimes.

He still grimaced when The Archer reminded him how he had once sent a message meant for them to Mordo instead. The Baron had looked up, given Strange a confused look to which the doctor replied with a shrug, and had promptly gone back to whatever he was doing.

It was a close call.

Still, like The Ancient One, The Archer was patient, and with their gentle guidance, Strange eventually had enough knowledge to project his thoughts onto someone and worm his way through most of the mental barriers The Archer had up.

He never made it past four, even when he had been supplied with a temporary relic to multiply his projection by three times.

He had asked, once. When they were in the mirror dimension’s astral plane and the moon had risen over the school, Strange pressed for an answer he was almost sure he was never going to get.

“ _ Why is your fifth barrier so powerful _ ,” he had asked.

“ _ Because it is the last one _ ,” the reply had come.

It had of course left him reeling, because he had been taught that having any less than seven was not a risk worth taking.

“ _ But you said- _ ”

“ _ I know what I said and thought to you Strange. I have five because any more would kill me, so I make them strong. _ ”

That was that. Any time Strange tried to ask through thoughts during the day, The Archer threw him near violently out of their thoughts. If he asked during their nighttime training sessions, the lesson ended early and he was left irate and unsatisfied with his newly acquired knowledge.

So Strange stopped asking questions.

At least, until  Kaecilius  attacked the Sanctuary.

| | | | |

The Archer and The Ancient One were absent, of course, they were, and Strange and Mordo had been backed into a corner in the mirror dimension. The next thing they both knew, The Ancient One was moving them away from danger, and the mark of the Dark Dimension was visible on her head.

There were seven of  _ them _ , and only one of  _ her _ , though, so Strange was very concerned. That is, until two of  _ them _ went down, with eldritch arrows glowing orange in their backs.

Kaecilius had snarled, and his crumbling eyes had narrowed as he’d zoned in on The Archer. “ _ Protect her, Strange. Keep her here for long enough. _ ”

He hadn’t understood, at that moment, adrenaline pumping through his veins too fast and too densely to allow him to compute anything more complex than  _ I’m alive _ or  _ I’m dead _ .

Now, though, following her as she left her body and remained floating on a balcony, he found that he did.

“ _ The Archer. They told me to keep you here for long enough, they’re on their way _ .”

The Ancient One had turned to him, the sadness of far too many centuries present in her eyes, before she had responded. “ _ You should leave. They are already here. _ ”

So Strange had left, leant away so that his body floated to a respectful distance while he watched. The Archer floated close, undoing their blindfold and taking off their mask and hood. Continuing, they reached out and placed a hand on The Ancient One’s shoulder like they had so many times before during meals.

Then he turned, floating away down the corridor and waiting for the next message he knew he would receive.

| | | | |

You placed your hand on her shoulder in an attempt to be a comfort, and maintain the distance which had built between the two of you as a result of time.

But instead of just relaxing into the touch and maybe leaning towards you, The Ancient One simply  _ broke _ . You watched as her shoulders sagged completely, and you barely reacted.

“ _ I’ve hurt you, so very much _ ,” The Ancient One all but sobbed, turning to face you, her weariness clear on her face.

You nod. “ _ You have. _ ” She broke further, if possible, but she didn’t cry. “ _ But we have hurt each other, Niamh. It ends for the both of us here. _ ”

She sighed, sagging lower, her eyes closed and her grief seeping into the air around her. You reached out your hand and hooked a gentle arm around her waist, drawing her in for a hug.

How long had it been since you’d held each other like this? How long since you had felt her melt against you, with nothing in the world besides the two of you? “ _ I’ve missed this _ ,” she said, and you held her tighter.

“ _ So have I, but there’s something he needs to hear. _ ”

“ _ I know. We go together. I will be here when you get back. _ ”

You nodded, pressing your forehead to hers in a way you hadn’t for decades, before floating away after Strange. When you found him, he was in his astral form still, leaning against the wall.

“ _ You’ve learned not to phase through everything,”  _ you noted, floating to stay about three feet away from your student. He looked at you, regarding you silently, the questions building and building and  _ building _ in the silence until they burst at the seams.

“ _ She draws power from the Dark Dimension and she’s hurt you so much,  _ how _ could you still possibly love her _ ?”

You smiled, yet at the same time, Strange froze, seemingly coming to terms with what he just said out loud. “ _ Your fifth barrier… it’s down _ .”

You nodded. “ _ It is, Strange. Someone ought to know. Tell Mordo that he needs to learn to be flexible, alright? No point beating around the bush with him. You need him to help you fight. _ ”

Strange was struggling to keep up, but she was slipping and you needed to be with her when you went. “ _ One more thing, Strange. You need to know about a lesson we have failed to teach you, and for that we are sorry. _ ”

“ _ What? Mordo hates me, he won’t help. And with my hands- _ ”

“ _ Your last lesson from us, Strange. It isn’t about you. _ ”

You left him, then, floating back through walls and into Niamh’s waiting arms. You watched the snow together, watched the lightning tear across the sky at a snail’s pace, and you breathed.

You had missed having her, but her fear was still incessant at the back of your mind.

“ _ Niamh, _ ” you whispered, pulling her back to look at her, “ _ we’re going to be fine. _ ” She gave you nothing but a watery smile in response, burying her face in your shoulder and weeping.

“ _ But we aren’t finished yet _ .”

“ _ That’s why we took on Strange, Niamh. You must know that he will be the best of us. _ ” She nodded again, but her face was still buried in your shoulder and fresh tears were being added to the ones soaking through your robe.

“ _ That’s not what you meant _ .”

She barely whispered her reply, and if you weren’t used to hearing her whisper by now, you would have missed what it was she said.

“ _ There was more I wanted to do with you _ .”

“ _ And I with you, but Niamh,” _ you answered, tilting her chin up to meet your gaze, “ _ but our time is up, we shall have to be content with this. _ ” She nodded, and you smiled pulling her in and wrapping your arms around her for the last time. If you strained your ears, you could hear the sounds of the mirror dimension, and every dimension after it passing you by until you came to one of rest.


End file.
